Risk factors for the chronic neurodegenerative condition known as Alzheimer’s disease (AD) include many cellular genes and pathogenic microbes. Nucleic acids of two ubiquitous human herpesviruses, HHV-6A and HHV-7, have been found at higher levels in AD brains compared with healthy controls, and appear to regulate genes implicated in risk of developing the disease.
By Gertrud U. Rey Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a leading cause of respiratory illness, including bronchiolitis and pneumonia, in the young, elderly, and immunocompromised. RSV poses a substantial public health threat due to its association with severe morbidity and mortality in infants and premature babies.
Of all the potential uses for genome editing via CRISPR/Cas9, perhaps the most exciting involves introducing therapeutic changes into human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) which can then be differentiated into many different cell types. A serious obstacle to such engineering is the finding that the tumor suppressor p53 inhibits CRISPR/Cas9 editing in hPSCs.
Last week we discussed the case of polio in Venezuela that turned out not to be polio. Unfortunately the same cannot be concluded about a bona fide case of polio in Papua New Guinea. Surveillance for acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) revealed a 6 year old boy in Papua New Guinea with lower limb weakness on …
In early June it was widely reported that the first case of poliomyelitis in 30 years had been identified in Venezuela (see this Tech Times report as an example). Fortunately these reports were incorrect, and Venezuela remains free of polio. Let€™s unpack exactly what happened.
By Gertrud U. Rey Zika virus (ZIKV) infection causes microcephaly in newborns and is causally associated with Guillian-Barré syndrome in adults. To date, there are no drugs available to prevent or treat ZIKV infection. ZIKV vaccine research is challenging because adult immunocompetent mice are resistant to ZIKV infection and disease.
